How on earth is it possible for a murder-mystery plot to be in sync with mouth-watering food in a precious gem of a town named Jewel Bay?
The answer: Agatha award-winning author Leslie Budewitz.
In Crime Rib, the second book in her Food Lover’s Village Mystery series, Leslie brought us back to the world of Erin Murphy, foodie extraordinaire and the manager of homegrown store, Murphy’s Mercantile or simply, The Merc.
Erin and her never-die attitude worked long and hard with people from Jewel Bay to put their village in the map as destination for great made-in-Montana dishes using the finest and freshest local ingredients. Food Preneurs, a television show that stars popular chef Gib Knox, is filming in Jewel Bay and Erin has her hands full in helping coordinate everything for this media endeavor while managing The Merc and deciding which of the two guys – Adam Zimmerman or Rick Bergstrom – is the best man for her heart.
Then came the murder – uhm, murders actually – and Erin once again finds herself in a deadly situation.
As with Leslie’s first novel in this series, Death al Dente (read the review here ), it can be quite confusing to remember all the characters; the town is a made of colorful characters with unique personalities and eccentricities.
But what it lacked in the first book – a character index in the beginning to guide readers on the various living things residing in Jewel Bay – Crime Rib surely made up for with a comprehensive list and description of breathing human beings and four-legged animals of Montana’s most delicious town.
I don’t know how Leslie successfully interweaves murder with good food in a tone that is not too tame for a mystery novel and not to overwhelming for a story that involves food.
This is a talent accorded to this lawyer (yes she is a woman of the law!) who definitely knows her food.
I learned about Leslie and her novels about the same time last year when I was still based in Kalispell, Montana and a member of the Flathead Valley Community College Book Club.
We had a wonderful chat about Jewel Bay, which I felt then was Bigfork, Montana in real life.
Leslie confirmed my “suspicions.”
Crime Rib is a light, fun read that is a fitting reading companion while on a solo travel adventure around Southeast Asia.
It was a crunchy, savory dive into the world of Jewel Bay where food is abundant back dropped on the image of a town whose residents are food creators, consumers and connoisseurs. Add several dashes of chili goodness of Erin’s misadventures and you have a perfect dish good for lunch and dinner servings. It’s almost as good as the several plates of pad thai I devoured last week when I was still in Rayong, Thailand.
Up next for my reading: Butter Off Dead.
Don’t you just love all these titles?
